Henry Rankin Poore
Orange, N. J., Feb. 1, 1903.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION

The revision which the text of this book has undergone has clarified
certain parts of it and simplified the original argument by a complete
sequence of page references and an index. The appendix reduces the
contents to a working formula with the purpose of rendering practical the
suggestions of the text.

In its present form it seeks to meet the requirements of the student who
desires to proceed from the principles of formal and decorative
composition into the range of pictorial construction.

H. R. P.

PREFACE TO TENTH EDITION

After twelve years _Pictorial Composition_ continues with a steady demand.
Through the English house it has become "a standard" in the British Isles
and finds a market in India and Australia.

At the request of a few artists of Holland it has been translated and will
shortly be issued in Dutch.

CONTENTS

Preface
PART I
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER II - THE SCIENTIFIC SENSE IN PICTURES
CHAPTER III - BALANCE
BALANCE OF THE STEELYARD.
POSTULATES
VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL BALANCE.
THE NATURAL AXIS
APPARENT OR FORMAL BALANCE.
BALANCE BY OPPOSITION OF LINE.
BALANCE BY OPPOSITION OF SPOTS.
TRANSITION OF LINE.
BALANCE BY GRADATION
BALANCE OF PRINCIPALITY OR ISOLATION
BALANCE OF CUBICAL SPACE.
CHAPTER IV - EVOLVING THE PICTURE
CHAPTER V - ENTRANCE AND EXIT
GETTING INTO THE PICTURE
GETTING OUT OF THE PICTURE
CHAPTER VI - THE CIRCULAR OBSERVATION OF PICTURES
CIRCULAR COMPOSITION
RECONSTRUCTION FOR CIRCULAR OBSERVATION.
CHAPTER VII - ANGULAR COMPOSITION, THE LINE OF BEAUTY AND THE RECTANGLE
THE VERTICAL LINE IN ANGULAR COMPOSITION
ANGULAR COMPOSITION BASED ON THE HORIZONTAL
THE LINE OF BEAUTY.
THE RECTANGLE
CHAPTER VIII - THE COMPOSITION OF ONE, TWO, THREE AND MORE UNITS
THE FIGURE IN LANDSCAPE
CHAPTER IX - GROUPS
CHAPTER X - LIGHT AND SHADE
PRINCIPALITY BY EMPHASIS, SACRIFICE, AND CONTRAST.
GRADATION
CHAPTER XI - THE PLACE OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN FINE ART
PART II - THE AESTHETICS OF COMPOSITION
CHAPTER XII - BREADTH VERSUS DETAIL
SUGGESTIVENESS.
MYSTERY.
SIMPLICITY.
RESERVE.
RELIEF.
FINISH.
PART III